


First Reactions After Falling

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, but overall nico has an alright time, light percabeth, like im talking light, nico gets slightly bullied, nico talks about his feelings, solangelo, solangelo is at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 06:36:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12053361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A few hours after Gaea is put back to sleep, Nico Di Angelo goes to the infirmary as per Will Solace's instructions. With the death of their friend still fresh in their mind, Jason Grace asks Nico if there's a chance Leo Valdez could still be alive.





	First Reactions After Falling

Nico felt like a robot, hooked up to so many machines. 

According to Will, the thing on his finger checked his heart rate, the tube in his arm was administering some medicine with a ridiculously long name, and the mask over his mouth had him breathing in purified air of some sort. Nico felt a little ashamed that he’d had to ask what all of the wires and machines were doing for him, but Will just smiled and explained, no judgement in his voice at all. 

“I haven’t been to a hospital in-gods, 90 years? 95?”, Nico mumbled, and Will stopped writing on the clipboard in his hand suddenly. 

“What do you mean 90 years?” Will asked

“Born in the 20’s, remember?” Nico reminded. Will didn’t say anything, but nodded in a way that said, ‘oh, right, forgot about that’ 

Nico stared at the heart monitor, spacing out as he watched his heartbeat dip and rise, dip and rise, dip and rise. The war with Gaea had ended a total of four hours ago, and now that all immediate injuries were tended to (thanks to Apollo Cabin’s many fast workers) many other less-intensely injured campers were slowly filing in. Across from Nico sat Jason Grace, his arm in a tube that somehow was able to check his blood pressure. Jason had been staring at his shoes for a few minutes with red and eyes. Every so often, he would sniffle, but Nico couldn’t tell if that was from previous or continuous crying without getting a good look on his face. 

Annabeth was the next of the 7-wait, 6 now-to come into the tent to get injuries checked. Apparently, she’d dislocated her left shoulder and the wound from her thigh was bleeding off and on. Kayla sat Annabeth in a chair beside Nico and gave her some ambrosia and nectar to get her started, as well as a bag of ice for the giant bruise on her right cheek, and promised to be back in 5 minutes when she’d had time to settle. 

“How you holding up?” Annabeth softly asked after a minute or so. The infirmary was quieter today, less hustle and bustle of regular campers and their scraped knees and concussions. It was as if everyone was afraid to say something that wasn’t medical. Annabeth’s words almost didn’t make it to Nico, for how quietly she spoke. 

“I’m fine,” he replied, taking a deep breath. “Tired, but Will says I'm not allowed to sleep in case I’m concussed.” He told her, and she nodded softly. 

“Di Angelo,” WIll addressed him from 5 or 6 feet away. “You’re almost completely solid. Lift your right arm for me.” 

Nico complied. Annabeth and Jason (who Nico could now see had stopped crying, but only recently based on the flush in his cheeks) watched as Will walked over and grabbed Nico’s hand, pinching the tip of each of his fingers. Nico’s heart rate raised slightly, and Will furrowed his brows and stared at the monitor. 

“Why is that-” 

“I don’t like physical contact.” Nico quickly said, pulling his hand back. 

“Like it, don’t like it, doesn’t matter to me. I need to make sure you aren’t going to reach for your sword and have it slip through your fingers.” Will told him, and Nico sat silently as he grabbed his hand for a second time, this time massaging his palm. 

Jason stirred slightly from across from him. His arm was no longer in the blood-pressure tube, but he stayed seated where he was. 

“Nico, is Leo still alive?” 

Nico thought for a second, expression unchanging as he considered how to answer this. Annabeth had turned her body to face him, and Will had stopped messing with his hand, peering into Nico’s face through blond hair. 

“Well,” Nico started. Should he tell Leo’s best friend that he doubted he was alive? Should he keep the secret? Nico thought back to his time with Jason and Eros, when Eros forced Nico’s own secret out of him. Granted, that secret wouldn’t have effected Jason’s life, but even with something as small as his own sexuality, Nico could tell that Jason didn’t like not knowing the whole story when it came to his friends. 

Was Nico Jason’s friend? 

“Nico,” Annabeth’s soft voice had become a little more present. “Answer. Please.”

“I-” Nico took a deep breath. “I felt it. Hazel did too. Unless he found a way to administer the cure to himself, he’s-” 

“What if he did?” Jason cut him off. 

“How?” Annabeth asked. 

For the first time since the touchy topic was brought up, Will spoke. 

“He could have injected it himself in the sky before he died. The cure would still be in his blood that way.” 

“He didn’t when Piper and I were up there,” Jason said quietly. “But he could have before he went up with Festus.”

Will looked like he was going to say something, but stopped himself, playing with Nico’s hand again. Nico’s heart rate raised again, but Will didn’t pay attention to it this time. 

“Will, we don’t want to be in the dark here.” Annabeth told him, and Will sighed. 

“Okay. Our books have nothing on how to make the physicians cure, but we know how it works. It flows though your body quickly with your blood to bring you back to life, and then your body attacks it like it does a regular virus. White blood cells don’t like intruders, and that cure doesn’t have any properties in it to tell the white blood cells that it’s friendly.” 

“What does that mean?” Jason asked

“That means he’d have a short window before death that he’d be able to administer the cure before it was destroyed in his body and wouldn’t work.” Will said, finally turning to look Jason in the eye. 

“How short of a window?” 

Will’s eyes raised, in the way they did whenever he considered anything medical. 

“Two, three minutes, tops.” 

Jason was quiet. He didn’t have to say anything, everyone knew. Jason, Leo, and Piper had been in the air for about 10 minutes. That’s too much time between giving himself the cure and blowing up. 

Will let Nico’s hand drop, and Will moved his hand toward Nico’s face, moving his hair out of his eyes.

“Concussion check,” he said, using his other hand to grab a small LED flashlight from his shorts pocket. “Follow the light.” He instructed, and Nico did. 

Kayla silently came over with a handful of wrappings. She said some things to Annabeth, but Nico couldn’t hear what they were. What he did hear was a pop, and then Annabeth letting out a yelp in pain. Will pulled back, asking Nico the date and time. As he answered, he looked over and saw Annabeth with her arm slightly raised, and Kayla wrapping her shoulder with a tenser bandage. 

He looked behind Will to see that Jason had left the infirmary. 

“Okay,” Will started quietly, and then coughed lightly to clear his throat. “You have a minor concussion, but you should be okay to sleep in your own cabin tonight. I want you to come by tomorrow and the next day, at least three times per day, so I can do a general check up. ”

“M’kay” Nico replied. Will started shutting off machines. 

“You’re solid. You can go get some things from your cabin if you want to, for entertainment while you’re here. The checkups will take about an hour each.” 

“I don’t have anything in my cabin.” 

“What? Why-oh. Right.” Will suddenly remembered that Nico didn’t actually live at Camp Half-Blood yet. He’d only been visiting from time to time. “Well,” he said, looking around. It looked like his siblings had everything under control. “You should go socialize then. But I’m coming with you, to make sure you stay solid and stay in camp.” 

“Why would I leave camp?” 

“Why did you leave before?” 

“It’s…complicated, okay?” 

“How is it complicated? All you had to do was not leave. Its, like, one of the only rules of Camp. And you broke it your first year.” 

“I was going through some stuff.”

“Nico,” Will sounded annoyed, but he took a deep breath. Nico realized that Annabeth and Kayla had witnessed the whole interaction. “Everyone goes through things. We’re demigods. It’s what happens to us. Nothing you’re going through isn’t just a you problem, I can guarantee someone in camp has been thinking the same thing at some point.” 

“I highly doubt it.” 

Will crossed his arms, leaning on his left leg. His blond hair was falling in his eyes again, and he flicked his head to move it out of the way. 

“You were born in a different century, right?” 

“Yeah,” 

“So was Hazel.” 

Nico said nothing, maintaining eye contact. Most people looked away at this point, deeming his stare to be ‘intense’ or ‘creepy’. Will just held his gaze. 

“I’m the only child of Hades.” Nico offered, and Will shook his head. 

“Hazel, again.” 

“She doesn’t count. She’s a child of Pluto. Different guy.” 

“And yet he wasn’t a ‘different guy’ when you saved her from the underworld." 

Nico had to admit, Will had him there. It annoyed him to no end. 

“Don’t pretend you know me, Solace.” 

Will raised his hand defensively. “Whatever, lets just go. Some fresh air will do you some good.” 

With that, Nico pulled the mask off of his face and set it on the bed beside him. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and hopped off, which wasn’t a good idea because he was immediately dizzy. 

“Take it easy, Neeks.” Will told him. 

“Don’t call me that.” 

“Don’t be lame.” 

-

Once outside, the sun blinded Nico. He immediately told Will to tell him father to cool it, which Will chuckled at. 

As they walked around, Nico noticed a group of Aphrodite kids talking by their cabin. Piper was among them, though she looked out of place. Her gaze was far off and her cheeks were tear stained, and her siblings seemed to be talking around her, not with her. Drew Tanaka stood with them, which Nico thought was odd. He didn’t know much about Camp, but he knew Drew wasn’t Piper’s best friend. 

The boys walked into Piper’s gaze, and she seemed to notice them after a second, walking over to them without addressing her siblings. 

“Hows Jason?” She asked Will when she came close enough

“Stressed. Low blood sugar, but he probably hasn’t eaten in a while so that’s expected.” Will replied. Piper nodded lightly. 

“I haven’t seen him since he told me he was going to the infirmary.”

“He’s probably with Percy,” Nico suggested, and Piper nodded again. After a second, she looked Nico in the eye, then smiled. 

“Thanks for everything, Nico.” She said, but Nico furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 

“I didn’t do much. You’re the one who put Gaea back to sleep.” 

“You brought the Athena Parthenos back to camp for us. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did if the Romans hadn’t worked alongside us, and they only did because of you and Reyna and Coach Hedge. So thank you.”

Nico didn’t know what to say. Nobody had really ever thanked him for what he’d done. Sure, after the battle of Manhattan he’d been told he was ‘awesome’, but he was never thanked. Even his own father hadn’t said anything positive after the battle. He’d just said, “That’s the last big favour you’re getting for a while” before vanishing. 

Piper reached out and grabbed his bicep, he flinched slightly, but didn’t pull his arm away from her grip. She gave him a small smile, nodded toward Will, and then turned back to her siblings. Normally he didn’t care when people looked at him, but he noticed that Drew and one of her sisters had been staring at him, laughing slightly. He thought he saw her mouth ‘Percy’. Nico kept walking. 

Nico passed by his cabin and noticed there was a box on the front step. It was a simple brown box, taped shut, with his name on the top. Will took it inside for him, which he hated. He could have carried the box himself, but Nico insisted. 

Once inside, Will pulled a pair of small scissors from his pocket (seriously, the kid wore cargo shorts and never had an empty pocket. Compared to Nico’s minimalistic belongings, Will looked like a pack mule) and cut the box open, then gestured for Nico to go ahead. 

The first thing he noticed was a black backpack, filled with gray and black clothes, and one orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt on top. Next was a small toiletries bag filled with just that-toiletries. A toothbrush, a comb, hotel sized bottles of shampoo and body wash, and some hand soap were all inside. Will reached in the box and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Nico. It read:

“You’ve done well. This should get you started. 

Signed, Hades.”

“Gift from your dad. Not bad,” Will said, nodding with approval. 

“Could be worse,” Nico agreed. 

-  
Come dinnertime, Nico wasn’t hungry. None of the campers really looked excited about their food, and many of them gave a little extra as an offering to their godly parent. Nico sat by himself at his table, while Percy sat alone at his, and Jason at his. The three of them looked very lonely at the three largest tables in the dining hall, and it didn’t help that campers kept looking over at any of them and whispering. Eventually, Chiron came over and told the boys that, given the circumstances, they can share a table today. 

Nico didn’t know if he should. 

Percy immediately stood and sat across from Jason at the Zeus table, though they sat there silently together. Nico didn’t see it, but he could feel that they were looking over at him, watching him pick at his baked potato with a fork. 

“Nico,” Jason called. He slowly looked, and Jason waved him over. He glanced at Percy quickly before deciding to get up. He sat beside Jason. 

The three boys ate silently for about 5 minutes. Even though they were doing the same thing they were while apart, it helped to have some trusted faces around each other. 

“This is so fucked up” Percy whispered, and Nico and Jason nodded in unison. They stayed silent again. 

Near the end of dinner, Drew did a walk past, smiling grossly at Nico. He kept eye contact with her, hoping to intimidate her. It didn’t work. 

As she walked past them again, this time behind Nico, she giggled before saying, 

“Enjoying your date, Di Angelo?” 

Nico froze. A lot of emotions blew over him-embarrassment, anger, guilt. He didn’t say anything to Drew, just kept picking at his baked potato. When she was back at her table, he quickly mumbled a “sorry”. He was about to get up and go back to his own table when Percy said, “I don’t care” 

Nico looked up at Percy through his hair. Percy was already looking at him. 

“She wouldn’t be doing this if I hadn’t told you. I shouldn’t have told you.” Nico said, and Percy glanced at Jason quickly before returning his attention to Nico.

“How long did you have feelings for me?” Percy asked. Nico didn’t want to answer, but he figured he owed Percy an explanation. 

“Since I was a kid, I guess. Before Bianca’s death, then I was just angry at you. Resented you for some time. But I think that was just because I was coming to terms with being, you know,”

“I get it.” Percy said, then took a sip of his water. “So about four years, give or take. You held that in for four years, on top of your other problems. The fact that you told me at all is impressive.” 

“Yeah, well I only told you because I don’t anymore.” Nico sniped, but Percy just held his gaze again. 

Things were silent for the rest of dinner.  
-

That night, Nico lay in his cabin alone, staring at the ceiling. The day’s events blew through his mind, like his brain was on overdrive. He wasn’t sure if he’d get any sleep. 

He wanted to get some fresh air, and tonight seemed like the only time he could. Chiron had Mr. D call of the harpies and other dangerous attack-monsters for the night, telling them that kids could visit each other throughout the night as needed. Nico opened the door to his cabin and was immediately greeted with the light of the stars staring down at him. He decided to sit on the front steps of Cabin 13. 

From his cabin, he could see all the others. Ares cabin still had all of its lights on, whereas Hypnos cabin, to no surprise, had none. Nico could see Percy perfectly through his cabin window, noticing that he left just left his desk lamp on. Percy was sitting with his back against the headboard, Annabeth beside him. They were staring straight ahead, both of them, talking about Hades-knows-what. The sound of a door opening drew in Nico’s attention, and he watched as Will Solace exited cabin 7. Will immediately walked over to him.

“Hey,” he said, sitting beside Nico. “Saw you were sitting here, thought you’d want some company.” 

They sat silently for some time, Nico looking at the stars, Will looking at Nico. 

“I’m glad you're staying.” Will told him.

“You are?” Nico asked, turning his head to look at Will. He couldn't help but to take notice of how the moonlight lit up his face. 

“Yeah. I mean…” Will trailed off, but Nico kept looking at him. He put his hands on his knees, tapping his fingers endlessly. “Nico, I know you don’t really like it here, but-”

“I’ve never disliked camp, Will.” Nico told him, and Will looked back into Nico’s eyes. “I had internal conflicts that I needed to come to terms with, yes, but those conflicts weren’t because of camp itself. I just needed to be on my own a little bit.”

Will gave a small smile.

“I always just thought you hated it here.” Will confessed.

“Well, I’ve never really fit in, but I have…friends now. I think.” 

“Do you think you and I could be friends?” 

“What do you mean?” Nico's gaze bounced between Will’s eyes. 

“Well, we never really hung out. The last time we actually payed attention to each other was in the battle of Manhattan, and that was during a war.” 

“Yeah?” 

Will took a deep breath

“Look, I don’t know if its because I’m overworked or tired or what, but I’m just going to tell you,” Will said, looking for any kind of reaction in Nico’s face. His expression stayed the same-focused. “I’ve always found you, I don’t know, fascinating? That's not the right word but it’s all I’ve got right now.” Will chuckled. “Ever since the first war, I just knew I wanted to get to know you. You’re really strong and I’ve always admired you, Nico”

Will saying his name made a shiver run down Nico’s spine. He chided himself mentally for allowing this. He shouldn’t be finding any interest in the Son of Apollo. 

“Say something.” Will said, his face riddled with concern. 

“I didn’t know anybody payed attention to me.” 

“I always have,” he sighed. “Okay, I told you something, you tell me something.” 

“What?” Nico’s face scrunched in confusion.

“Yeah. I just told you something embarrassing, it’s your turn.” 

“Oh, alright.” Nico said, and then wondered why he was agreeing to this. Had it been anyone else-Jason, Frank, Piper, whoever-he would have told them he didn’t ask for them to open up to him, and he owed them nothing. But Will looked good under the moonlight and Nico couldn’t deny that the skeleton butterflies in his stomach had started to make a home there. “I, uh, I recently told Percy that I had feelings for him.” Nico wondered why he was telling Will this, of all things. 

“I heard about that.” 

“Is it really going around?” 

“Well, you didn’t exactly tell Percy privately, and once Drew found out, everyone else did too.” 

Nico hummed in agreement. He maybe didn’t plan that out in the moment, but he’s never been good with thinking things through completely. 

The boys sat in silence for some time, and as the night drew on Nico realized that it had started getting a little cooler. Will tried-and failed-to look casual while he scooted closer to Nico, looking to find some warmth. He was also pleasantly surprised when he felt how warm Nico was against his arm, though he’s not sure what he expected. King of the Ghosts or not, Nico was still human and still had warmth to him. 

“Will, do you want one of my sweaters?” Nico offered, and Will shook his head. Besides, then Nico would have to leave, even just for a minute, and Will didn’t want that. 

At about 1am, after looking at the stars and making simple conversation for an hour, Will yawned. Nico followed suit. Without warning, Will leaned his head on Nico’s shoulder, but Nico didn’t protest. They sat like this for all of two minutes until Will leaned up again, saying that he was getting a cramp in his neck, presumably because Nico was “much shorter” than Will was. 

Nico, of course, retorted that he was barely 6 inches shorter than Will, but apparently those 6 inches made a difference. 

“Nico,” Will started, looking him in the eye. He was much closer than Nico thought he was. “I should probably get going to bed, I have to be up early tomorrow.” 

“Yeah,” Nico agreed, looking in Will’s eyes. Again, the moonlight's reflection made Will’s face look more gorgeous than it ever had, and Nico couldn’t get the skeletal butterflies to land. Nico’s gaze darted between Will’s eyes and his mouth, and although he was annoyed that he was feeling this way, he couldn’t exactly put an end to it. Will must have noticed, but he didn’t say anything. 

“So, I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow then?” Will offered, leaning in closer.

“Yeah,” Nico replied. 

“Neeks?” Will said, and Nico looked into Will’s blue eyes

“Yeah?” Nico replied, again.

“Can I kiss you?” 

This time, Nico said nothing. He nodded once, and Will leaned forward, pressing his mouth to Nico’s softly. To Nico’s disappointment, the kiss didn’t last long, and when Will pulled away he found himself leaning in again slightly, before backing up as well. 

“Goodnight, Nico.” Will said, standing up and brushing off his pyjama pants with his hands. 

“Goodnight, Will.”

**Author's Note:**

> Second one-shot I've written in 24 hours. Sometimes you don't write for 3 years, sometimes you bang out 5,000 words in a day. It is what it is. 
> 
> Any and all feedback would be super appreciated, and thanks so much for reading this!


End file.
